Shloka 14
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
श्रेष्ठ पुरुष ब्राह्मणका शूद्र-कन्याके गर्भसे संतान उत्पन्न करना अच्छा नहीं मानते। शूद्राके गर्भसे संतान उत्पन्न करनेवाला ब्राह्मण प्रायश्चित्तका भागी होता है ।।
triṁśadvarṣo daśavarṣāṁ bhāryāṁ vindeta nāgnikām | ekaviṁśativarṣo vā saptavarṣām avāpnuyāt ||
शूद्रकन्यागर्भसम्भवमपत्यं ब्राह्मणस्य न प्रशस्तं मन्यन्ते श्रेष्ठाः। शूद्रायां जनयन् विप्रः प्रायश्चित्तभाग् भवति॥ त्रिंशद्वर्षो दशवर्षां भार्यां विन्देत नग्निकाम्। एकविंशतिवर्षो वा सप्तवर्षामवाप्नुयात्॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
It presents a normative rule (as Bhishma’s instruction on dharma) about socially sanctioned ages for marriage, specifying a man’s age and a very young bride’s age, with the condition that the girl is pre-menarchal.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma is delivering extended teachings on dharma to Yudhishthira; this verse occurs within that instructional setting as a prescriptive statement about marriage practice.